Lovely
by bandgrad2008
Summary: I like that you're broken, broken like me.
1. Broken

**Disclaimer:** This fic is loosely based off of the song "Broken" by lovelytheband. I do not own the lyrics or Life is Strange.  
 **A/N:** It's been over 4 years since I've posted anything so if you're getting a notification from me posting something, surprise and holy shit, you're still getting notifications from me. That would definitely mean a lot. Anyway, I'm not sure if I want this to be a one-shot or more so I'll leave that up to you guys. Enjoy.

It's somewhere around eleven when I realize that someone's been watching me from across the loft. I don't know any of these people, none of them are even friends of my friends—if I actually had any—but I'd heard from a few acquaintances on the street that some trust fund baby was throwing this party, and it would be against my nature to miss an opportunity to get drunk, high, or both. Unfortunately, I'm not either, which is probably why I'm focused on the blonde girl with the blue feather earring standing alone a short distance away.

I take a swig of my beer and try to concentrate on anything else in the room, especially the group of kids in the middle of the room passing a joint around. I want to join them, but then I'm reminded that I don't know any of these people and that they don't me, and I'd be intruding on something I wasn't _actually_ invited to participate in. Giving up on that hopeful chance, I notice a couple in the corner making out and roll my eyes, before returning my gaze to the girl who's watching me.

I don't know why I'm drawn to her, or why I feel like my heart is in my throat and my palms are sweating. My boots are glued to the floor, and she's moving toward me through the crowd of rich kids, almost predatorily.

"Let's talk," she suggests close to my ear, and suddenly I'm nervous because there's something about her that is unlike anyone I've ever met. She grabs my face and I'm fully aware of the vodka tinting her breath, her eyes boring into mine as though she's trying to read my entire soul through them, and I'm not sure that she can't. After a silent minute she says, "I like that you're broken and lonely like me. Maybe that makes me a fool." She shrugs. "Maybe I could be lonely with you."

I nod, smiling nervously. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that," I respond, mentally kicking myself because goddamn it, Chloe, you're an idiot.

She laughs and grabs my hand, pulling me out onto the balcony and away from the party. I watch as she slides the glass door closed and as she turns to me. "So this doesn't seem like your crowd," she points out.

"Oh yeah? How do you know I'm not loaded with my parents' money and just acting like I'm not?" I shoot back, and she raises her brow. I shake my head with a laugh. "Yeah, no, I just heard about this party and came up for the free booze." I bring the beer bottle that I nearly forgot I was holding up to my lips, and she rolls her eyes. "What about you?" I inquire after swallowing. "You don't seem like the type to be hanging out with these people."

She shrugs. "Maybe we had the same idea. I'm Rachel," she introduces herself, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Chloe." We stare out across the snow-covered city for a moment, the chill enveloping us, and it reminds me of Arcadia Bay. Inside the loft is a cheer, muffled by the glass door, signaling the closeness of midnight. I set the beer bottle down on the balcony railing and shove my hands in my coat pockets to warm them. She seems to notice and grins. "Are you cold?"

I try to hide my shivering and laugh. "Of course not, I'm always nice and toasty when it's nearly zero outside." She shakes her head with a grin and moves closer to me, her head resting on my shoulder, and my arm automatically snakes around her waist, pulling her closer. My confidence is wearing off, and I'm afraid that she'll change her mind and move away from me, but she doesn't.

"Do you ever feel like someone can change your entire life?" she questions suddenly, and I furrow my brows. "I mean, we're all like broken pieces floating, but maybe we meet someone who could help us fix those broken pieces, one by one." There's something tragic and almost pure in her question, and I think I could love her, but I'm not sure.

I shrug and clear my throat, ignoring that last thought. "I don't believe in mushy stuff, but I guess it's possible." Her eyes meet mine and the muffled countdown in the background fades away as she kisses me. When she pulls away, there's muffled cheering, but when I look toward the party, no one is paying attention to us. "Happy new year," I murmur before I'm pulled into another kiss, and I pull her closer, cupping her cheek with one hand.

I don't know if it's the alcohol clouding her judgment or if she actually likes me, but I can't even bring myself to think about it as she smiles into the kiss, frozen hands worming their way under my jacket and pressing against my bare stomach, causing me to jump and yelp. She laughs, her eyes watching me as I adjust my jacket, and I eye her suspiciously. "You're nice and toasty, and I just wanted to warm my hands," she tries innocently.

"Uh huh, sure," I tease, and I grab her hands, slipping them into my jacket pockets. "Doing this would have been easier and not cause a shock to my system."

She sticks her tongue out at me and pulls me closer to her by my pockets. "Maybe you're a shock to _my_ system, Chloe," she admits, causing my heart to do flips, and I try to calm myself. "Something between us is new and intense and I can't be the only person to feel it, am I?" She sighs and reaches for my neglected beer bottle, taking a swig. "Maybe I'm just fucking crazy."

I shake my head. "Nah, I feel it too." I feel like I'm definitely too fucking sober for this, sharing a moment with someone I hardly know, acting like we've known each other for so long, but it really does feel like that, and I don't know what to do. Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be here in Brooklyn to begin with, let alone sharing kisses with a definitely attractive and way out of my league girl who approached me first.

Fuck it, let's see where this goes.


	2. Alone Time

**Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or Lovelytheband.**

 **A/N: So I've been thinking about this chapter and trying to write it but I ended up hitting a block. Fortunately it didn't last as long as the others one have. Like the first chapter, this one is based on more songs from Lovelytheband, in particular "Alone Time" and "Don't Worry, You Will". I know exactly how the story is going to end, and it's probably only going to be a couple more chapters.**

I could use a distraction to cope with my life, not necessarily making me feel good, just better than I do. My room is dark, in need of sunshine and maybe the smile of my new favorite person, but I feel trapped with my feelings, as though my mattress is an island that I can't escape. I'm sick of being sad, and being high doesn't help me as much as it should.

I set the joint in my ashtray and place it on the bookcase next to my bed, folding my arms beneath my head. I haven't stopped thinking about Rachel since the party last night, the memory of Rachel's lips against mine haunting every one of my thoughts. It was like something someone had told me once, that maybe the reason two people were drawn together was because their atoms were formed near each other and then separated, and that they always returned back to each other, and if that was how science explained something that I'm feeling, then fuck, I love science.

Never one to care about socializing, I've been cursed—if I could consider it a blessing, I probably would—with never-ending thoughts about the girl with the blue feather earring, and I wonder when the hell I became so attached to someone like this, to where I feel as though my heart's going to stop if I'm not around her. Reaching for the beer bottle next to the ashtray, I swish it to see how much I have left and take a swig, the lack of coolness causing me to wince.

" _Nice place you have here," Rachel compliments, glancing around the tiny living room in my apartment, and sits on the couch. "It's very…"_

" _Lonely," I mutter, moving toward the kitchen to retrieve two beers from the fridge. She accepts one and smiles, pulling me to sit beside her. "I've mostly been by myself since I moved out here," I admit, popping the top off my drink._

"' _Mostly'? Do you have girls in your bed often?" she laughs, and I feel myself relax at her teasing, feeling at home, something I haven't felt in a long time._

" _Oh, you know, a couple times in a month, I suppose. They tend to avoid conversations, though." The girls I had met at parties were usually drunk or high and wanted to do anything other than talk, especially if I was providing them more alcohol or weed, and I never really complained because I was okay for those interactions. I've always just felt like there was something that was missing and sometimes I enjoy conversation._

Where _is_ Rachel, anyway? She had stayed well past the sunrise, and it was now—I glance at my alarm clock and sigh—eight in the evening. I'd slept all day after falling asleep toward the end of a conversation. Maybe she had gotten tired of being here and decided I was no longer worth _whatever_ it was we were feeling last night.

My phone vibrates and I reach for it from where it lays haphazardly on a pile of clothes on the floor next to the bed. _Does Sleeping Beauty live?_ is the single message from an unknown number and I grin, my anxiety put to ease from the thought of Rachel changing her mind. I respond with a short affirmation and reach for the joint and inhale, returning it to its resting place. Barely a full minute passes before a hooded figure climbs into my bedroom through the window, and Rachel pushes the hood off of her head, smiling. "Where'd you go?" I inquire curiously, eyeing the brown paper bag in clenched in her fist.

"I figured you would be hungry when you came out of hibernation," she laughs, tossing me the bag, and I open it to find five wrapped hamburgers. _She's definitely my favorite person,_ I think as I unwrap and scarf down three of the burgers. "I take it I had the right idea," Rachel confirms, leaving the room and returning with two beers. I watch as she pops the top of hers and takes a drink, and her eyes meet mine as I take a bite.

I'm about to speak when my phone rings and I turn my gaze to the screen, catching my father's name and the picture of him and I decked in pirate gear. Rachel notices too, the corners of her mouth twitching at the image, and hands me the phone while I wipe my hand on a napkin. "Hey, Dad," I answer.

 _My head is in Rachel's lap as we talk about our childhoods, her fingers playing with my hair as she laughs at the adventures Max and I had in our pirate days. She speaks of her love for the stars and space, and I confess that I have glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling in my bedroom. She asks to see and pulls me to my room, marveling at the sight over my bed. Suddenly, we're lying on our backs side by side, staring up at the stars, and her hand grasps mine, fingers threading between mine._

 _I turn my head to look at her, dopey from the alcohol and weed, and she's the most beautiful thing I've seen in my life. I curse myself for being so fucking mushy about a girl, but I feel at home here with her, and I'm aware of all the alone time I've had in my life and want to share it with her._

I hang up and set my phone and the bag of remaining hamburgers next to my ashtray, turning my attention back to my guest. "Sometimes I miss home," I sigh, and Rachel nods. "It's been so great being out here on my own, but at the same time, I miss my dad."

Rachel looks up at the stars on my ceiling and nods again. "I understand…kind of. I don't really have anyone that I miss back home, but I do miss being there." She smirks. "I can't find a thing I don't like about you and I don't want to find a reason to doubt you. I think if I were to go anywhere else without you, I'd miss you."

"Don't worry, you will," I tease, reaching for her hand and pulling her to me. "I can make you happy for a while, smile for a little, and you'll think I'm charming for a minute and funny for a second, but then I'll turn into a joke. You'll get tired of me because I'm flawed. The conversations will get ugly and you'll say you need to find yourself."

She shrugs and allows me to wrap my arms around her, her head resting against my shoulder. "Can't we just try to stay positive even though it's not an easy way to live? Whatever's going to happen will happen, and we'll deal with it then. For right now, I just want to…explore whatever this is between us."

"We can do that."


	3. Shatter

**A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't posted this in over a year! This will be the final chapter, and the final part of it was how I decided to write this fic. Part of the first part of this chapter is from "Pity Party", and a couple of lines are inspired by "I Like the Way", also by lovelytheband. Thank you all for reading, and I hope that I'll have more fics out as soon as I can.**

 _In the dark, the red numbers on the digital clock glow 2:56, and I sigh. I haven't been able to sleep, but I could chalk that up to the sleeping woman on top of me, her right hand holding my left as she breathes slowly and steadily. Usually if I was home now, I would wish that was out right now and a couple of shots down, but I can't seem to feel that way now when Rachel is warm and home even in her sleep. No one had ever made me feel as safe and wanted as she did, except maybe Max when we were kids but that was…that was different._

 _Man, it's scary how existing sounds._

 _After Max and her parents had moved, we stayed in constant contact. She even came to visit a few times, but it didn't feel the same anymore. Sure, we slipped into our pirate games like nothing had happened, but we were also growing up with different interests. Max became more_ serious _about life, whereas I decided to leave home and explore the world after graduation. So far, the most I've done is feel sorry for myself like it's a hobby, with my head feeling heavy and anxiety holding me hostage. If I had a pity party, there'd be balloons and tears for everyone, and I'd be smiling but I wouldn't be happy._

 _I stare up at the glowing stars on my ceiling and smile to myself. As far as I can tell, Rachel's crazy matches mine, and I love that no one else compares to her. She makes my chest hurt at how hard my heart beats whenever she looks at me, or whenever she takes my hand in hers and talks about whatever's on her mind and fuck, I could spend the rest of my life with her._

 _Rachel stirs and opens her eyes slowly, trying to focus on my face in the dark. "You okay?" she mumbles sleepily, and I turn my face to her with a dopey smile. "High without me?" she continues, and I laugh._

 _"_ _No," I answer quietly. "No, I'm just thinking about how unfulfilling my life was before you came around." I kiss her forehead and she sighs happily, nuzzling her face into my neck. I don't know what it is about her that makes me so mushy, except for maybe the fact that she's drawn me in with whatever fierce intensity this feeling shared between us._

We sit on the fire escape outside of my bedroom window and watch cars and people move below us, passing a joint between us and nursing our own beer. "You know," she starts, and I glance at her, the glow of the sun emphasizing the lightness of her hair. She looks so angelic, and I…couldn't be further from it. I feel the sudden urge to kiss her, but she stops me with a look. "Chloe?"

I shake my thoughts and hum, my eyes meeting hers.

"I was saying, I know we've only been hanging out for a few days, but everything between us feels like we've known each other for a long time." She grabs my hand and rests her head on my shoulder. "Back home, my life wasn't the best. I had people around me who were fun to be around, but they weren't truly my friends, and my family was somewhat of a mess. My father was the district attorney and kept the fact that I was adopted hidden from me until last week, after I found him with my birth mother. That's how I ended up here." She stretches her free hand out. "I guess I couldn't live at home anymore, knowing that I was being lied to."

"That's pretty fucked up," I tell her.

She nods. "It is, and because of it, I don't trust easily anymore. But you…I feel like I can trust you, and I do. I don't want this to end."

I nod against the top of her head and kiss her forehead. Whatever loneliness I had is gone being here with her, and I have a feeling that whatever this is, it's not going to end for a very long time.

 _Her eyes follow a bright blue butterfly as it flutters to one end of the casket, settling down and flapping its wings slowly. She smiles and lifts her head, knowing that somewhere, whatever fate they've been given to face, they're together._


End file.
